Explain the "need" to vent tires.

[Dopeman]

I guess I'm just not getting it. On proline's website it says to cover the vent holes in the wheels to keep water out if you're going to running in wet conditions. Most of the time, I find some mud or something. I just don't understand the need for the vents. If you seal them up from the get go, you don't have to worry about getting dirt, sand, water, etc..... inside your tires. I understand that tires will balloon at higher speeds. But, as they do, they get thinner and taller. Doesn't seem as though the actual volume inside the tire increases necessitating a need for more air. Just seems like they change shape due to the centrifugal force. What am I missing?

 

[Jerry-rigged]

A few things -

1 - Vents are "needed" to help prevent bouncing - think rubber ball syndrome. The effect is not huge, but is there, especially with big MT tires. And for racers, vented with foams for support give another level of bump dampening. If the tires were sealed, you would get bounce instead of dampening.

2 - Most RTR's are vented thru holes in the plastic rim. Cheap and easy. However, when you run, and dust / sand / water / mud that gets inside the rim will get sucked into this hole, and be stuck inside your tire. Very soon, your tires are out of balance, and the car is out of control at high speed.

3 - if you vent the rubber tire, in the tread - any water and dirt that gets inside the tire will get flung out of the vent when running at speed.

4 - Water in the foam can damage the foam. I am guessing that is why they say to cover the vents for wet running.

If you are mostly just bashing, sealing the vents is probably not gonna cause any issues.

 

[Dopeman]

A few things -

1 - Vents are "needed" to help prevent bouncing - think rubber ball syndrome. The effect is not huge, but is there, especially with big MT tires. And for racers, vented with foams for support give another level of bump dampening. If the tires were sealed, you would get bounce instead of dampening.

2 - Most RTR's are vented thru holes in the plastic rim. Cheap and easy. However, when you run, and dust / sand / water / mud that gets inside the rim will get sucked into this hole, and be stuck inside your tire. Very soon, your tires are out of balance, and the car is out of control at high speed.

3 - if you vent the rubber tire, in the tread - any water and dirt that gets inside the tire will get flung out of the vent when running at speed.

4 - Water in the foam can damage the foam. I am guessing that is why they say to cover the vents for wet running.

If you are mostly just bashing, sealing the vents is probably not gonna cause any issues.

Okay, I get the bounce part of it. I'm gonna try my new senton tires sealed and see what happens.

 

[Dustin Mustangs]

Please report back, you know, if you survive and all that.

 

[Dopeman]

Saints preserve us, I'm gonna try it!!!!

 

[David941]

That doesn't include variables such as rubber stretching and temperatures.
I had sealed tires that malformed under suction. They took a deep breath when taking the tape off the holes

 

[Unusual RC]

What about belted tires?
I do not think those holes will be needed any more

 

[Dopeman]

What about belted tires?
I do not think those holes will be needed any more

Getting ready to make the first run. We'll see.

Tires impressed me. Serious rooster tails were thrown. Much more traction than stock sidewinders. No ballooning. Two thumbs up for the belted maxxis tires. Thumbs down on my glue job. It held up fine, but I've got two tires with a wobble to them. I'll do better next time. On a side note, I crashed and broke my front bumper/skid plate. Looking for a good one now.

 

[Unusual RC]

If you need a reason...
check this:

https://arrmaforum.com/threads/removing-tires-from-wheels.1117/page-2

 

[Dopeman]

If you need a reason...
check this:
View attachment 5624

https://arrmaforum.com/threads/removing-tires-from-wheels.1117/page-2

But if they're sealed, you shouldn't run into that problem in the first place. At least that's my thinking.

 

[Unusual RC]

But if they're sealed, you shouldn't run into that problem in the first place. At least that's my thinking.

You mean sealed as in no air can get in or out?
What I understand is due to the large centrifugal forces the tire gets instable. The rubber is made out of flexible, elastic latex. The tire cannot expand due to the under pressure in the tire. This creates odd shapes, which makes driving fast quite hard.

It is only the driven tires. The front tires are as good as new, no debris inside there.

 

[Unusual RC]

Another proof venting holes are necessary!
These are the BLX Mojave wheels with open celled inserts.
The scale is set to metric grams. The difference is between a front and rear wheel. Roughly 1.5 ounces!

This might have destroyed my diff eventually

 

[Rb0397]

Okay, I get the bounce part of it. I'm gonna try my new senton tires sealed and see what happens.

update? how did it go

 

[Warby]

I recently bought a set second hand, well used proline wheels/tyres off eBay because they were cheap. When I received them they seemed very heavy. The tyres were not vented and the vent inside the rim was open. First run they were very unbalanced and the tyre ripped off the rim revealing the reason.

The foams were completely rotten and full of dirty and mud. Lots. It probably made the wheel twice as heavy.

Anyway sealing the rim vent and venting the tyre instead would have prevented a lot of this contamination.

 

[ho lee chit]

I sealed the rim holes of my notorious and my kraton. Did not notice any bounce effect

There will away get tiny punctures/tears in the tyre creating a slight vacuum. When the tyre hits the ground after a jump tiny bits of air escape thru those punctures. If that happens you can hear the tyre making a different sound, as if there isn't a foam in the tyre.

Pop of the seal for a second, problem solved

 

[Jzepp]

When you vent your tires are they suppose to get sort of flat? I put 2 holes in each tire on opposite sides of each tire. Now when i squeeze the tires you can hear the air coming out and they seem sort of flat which i guess is suppose to happen.

Will this reduce your run time due to the tires sort of dragging now because they are not nice and full with air?

 

[Warby]

They never hold pressure. Most rims are vented too. So should not make any difference to run time

 

[Jimbobjr]

When you vent your tires are they suppose to get sort of flat? I put 2 holes in each tire on opposite sides of each tire. Now when i squeeze the tires you can hear the air coming out and they seem sort of flat which i guess is suppose to happen.

Will this reduce your run time due to the tires sort of dragging now because they are not nice and full with air?

Make sure you tape the rim holes on the back.